(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a slide member in which an overlay is provided on a slide receiving surface of a base member.
(2) Description of Related Art
A slide member such as a slide bearing used for an internal combustion engine of an automobile, a general industrial machine and the like requires excellent anti-seizure property, conformability, fatigue resistance and wear resistance. As a slide bearing for an internal combustion engine, there are an aluminum base alloy bearing in which an aluminum alloy is lined on a back metal layer, a copper base alloy bearing in which a copper alloy is lined on a back metal layer, and bearings in which overlay layers are provided on surfaces of these bearing alloy layers, and these bearings are used properly depending on the condition of operation.
In recent years, the internal combustion engines trend to increase in speed and output power, and be enhanced in fuel efficiency, and the slide member is required to have a lower frictional property in addition to the above described properties. In order to obtain the lower frictional property, it has been conceivable to provide a layer containing solid lubricant particles on a surface (slide receiving surface) of a bearing alloy layer (base member) of a bearing, for example.
As an art of providing the layer containing solid lubricant particles on a surface of a bearing alloy layer, there is conventionally known a method of providing a resin overlay layer containing solid lubricant particles on the surface of the bearing alloy layer. Generally, the resin overlay layer is formed by mixing the solid lubricant particles in a resin binder, and coating the surface of the bearing alloy layer with this mixture.
Meanwhile, there is also a method of coating the surface of the bearing alloy layer only with the solid, lubricant particles without a resin binder in order to enhance the lubricity (lower frictional property) more. For example, JP-A-2007-139149 discloses that solid lubricant particles are adhered to a surface of a bearing alloy layer (base member) while causing friction therebetween, and the overlay layer in which a number of solid lubricant particles exist is coated on the surface of the bearing alloy layer.